Across The Water – Page 11 – From Canada to Austria to…?

March 11, 2010March 11, 2010

Simply Lovely Days

As things head into a time of major change and uncertainty, (six weeks to go before we have no income and nowhere to live. But who’s worrying?) I’m trying to appreciate my non-working status a bit more.

Last week the warm winds blew in and so, after dropping Annie off at Kindergarten, I decided to go for a hike. I strolled by the river and then wound my way up one side of the mountain. It was just stunning. After only about 15 minutes hiking the view of the river, city and the breathtaking Alps were all before me. That is one of the insanely spectacular things about living in a valley; you hike up one side only to get an even better view of the range on the other side. Snow-peaked and ragged and awe-inspring. I was only gone about three hours, but it felt like a real break.

And then on Sunday I got a Skype message from my friend Nicole. The last time we had gone skiing together she had grabbed my skis by accident. (Not really that surprising, as “my” skis are Nicole’s old skis that she had for a number of years.) So now her and her husband were away on a week’s ski holiday without her skis. She was going to take the train back up to Innsbruck and switch, but hey…I’m not working, I have time, so I offered to drive them down.Â Great, she exclaimed, I’ll by you a day’s ski pass and we can all go skiing together. I was so in.

Nicole and Tom were down in Italy at the Dolomites, about one and a half hours south of Innsbruck. After getting a wee bit lost, I met them in the parking lot and we layered up (it is cold again this week) and hit the gondola. The Dolomites are the perfect ski area for a sort-of beginner like me. Most of the runs are on wide bowls, not too steep with no danger of death-defining edges to fall off of.

But what was really great was how very, very beautiful it was. I must have said “What a view!” about a thousand times. Enough to make Tom want to hit me, I’m sure. The mountains are more rugged at the top than the Austrian Alps, with more rolling hills in between, so it was different kind of beauty for me to experience.

I didn’t have the camera (cameras and winter sports are not compatible, we discovered a couple of years ago) so searched for some shots of the area on Google. Here is what I found that was closest to what I experienced:

And just to add to the Rockwellian picture-perfectness of it all, every few minutes we would pass Haflingers pulling traditional sleds with tourists bundled in woollen blankets.

Skiing with Tom and Nicole is also very civilized. After about an hour we stopped on one of the gazillions of mountain-side HÃ¼tten and had a drink. Hot tea with rum made the rest of the morning pass by with a warm glow. For lunch we skied to a restaurant Nicole had scouted out the day before. I ordered house-made pasta (we were in Italy, so of course) with sun-dried tomatoes, Speck and a pile of fresh Arugula on top. Yum, yum and yum.

We talked about how pretty the Dolomites must be in the summer. So I poked around and found these images of the area in warmer weather:

Yeah, I think I’ll be coming back.

After a couple of more hours of skiing I headed home to sort-of make it in time for my evening German class. That is the kind of spur-of-the moment experience that makes all of the challenges of living in a foreign country so completely worth it. And it is these kind of days that remind me that life can be very generous and that it will all, eventually, work out.

February 18, 2010

Fasching 2010

Fasching season, that crazy time leading up to Ash Wednesday and Lent, is over for another year. It is a historically a time of excess and overindulgence before 40 days of austerity. It is also a celebration to push off Winter and, hopefully, welcome Spring.

For more details, pictures and a video of the parade, check out my Fasching post from last year.

This year Annie, like every other little girl in her Kindergarten class, was a fairy princess. It was hilarious dropping her off at school and seeing a gaggle of pink-winged girls tumble out excitedly into the hall to greet Annie.

We didn’t make the parade this year. Well, we did, but the first group to go by was a colourful set of clowns. Freaked Annie right out so we came home and listened to the partying from our apartment all night.

Here are some pics from the day.

I wonder what next year will bring…hobo maybe? Not likely.

February 12, 2010

Musings about Stuff…or Come on Down!

Not much is going on in our household these days. Well, a lot is going on…job hunting, discussions about the future, daily life with a child…but nothing of note for the blog.

So I started going through old photos to post and talk about when I came upon one of my all-time favourites from about two years ago.

Does this photo ever bring back memories.

But what it really made me think of is a topic I’ve been contemplating ever since we made the decision to get rid of 9/10ths of our possessions and move to Europe. How important is stuff? (And more to the point, how the hell do these Europeans live in such tiny quarters and still seem relatively happy and sane??)

One blogger I’m following wrote about her perspective on stuff, which was forever shifted when she had to move because of a good-old New York infestation of bed bugs and had to leave behind anything that couldn’t be boiled or sterlized. The subheading is: “Know this: You could dump everything if you had to.” Very true words, Ms. Trunk.

The metaphor I’ve come up with for my own changed perspective on stuff is The Price is Right. On pretty much every show there was at least one prize package with several trips to amazing places around the world, and one that was furniture. I remember very clearlyÂ thinking, “Go for the furniture! A trip is over after a week, but a couch lasts forever!!” I was disdainfully condescending when an over-the-top-excited contestant picked the trips. The idiot.

Now? I would pick the trips every time. Well, that is what I was thinking the last while, until I really looked at this picture. The sun-mottled room, a view of the backyard, somewhere to put a piano. It just seems so lovely, so inviting.

So somewhere in there is a balance I have yet to achieve. I know that my perspective on stuff vs. experience has shifted way, way over to the experience side. And I’m happy about that. Deeply grateful, actually, that the world has offered me this opportunity to understand the value of learning a new language or trying to talk to a classmate from the Congo or simply standing in a city center that was imagined and designed and built a thousand years ago.

And yet right now I’m longing to walk through IKEA and pick out couches and new kitchen utensils and brightly coloured children’s furniture. I’m longing for a home.

My definition of the perfect home has changed significantly the last two years…it is certainly much smaller and more practical in my mind. But it is still beautifully appointed, has a tiny garden to play and relax in, is sunny and, most importantly, has a view. Of mountains or water or trees or anything that draws my eyes through the window to the bigger world.

I’m sure there are several reasons why Europeans (in this part of Europe anyway) can happily live in small, aesthetically beautiful homes. For one thing, their relatives had much, much less only a short time ago, and also there is less space here so there is no pressure to keep up with the neighbours since almost no-one has a huge home. But I also think it is because “home” is just one reference point in a large life of vacations to foreign countries and hikes up mountains and endless city festivals and good wine in a neighbourhood restaurant.

And so as the world serves up another very big and unknown change in my life in the next few months, I will focus on achieving that balance between possessions and experiences, wherever in the world I might land.

January 31, 2010January 31, 2010

Markus Joins My Tick Box

As my 40th birthday trip was such a success, we decided to try another to celebrate the start of Markus’ 5th decade. Since my mom was not on hand to watch Annie, we made it a family trip. (Seriously, this post is mostly about Annie, but that is the way it goes with a very cute 3-year-old around to take pictures of.)

Markus scouted out a ski region in the province of Salzburg called Ski Amade that had reports of excellent snow and hundreds of ski runs to choose from. We originally were going to book a package at a hotel that included breakfast, dinner and two 3-day ski passes. But after more internet-poking around, Markus discovered a small apartment on a hobby-farm about 10 minutes from the lift. So instead of â‚¬900 for a single hotel room, we paid less than â‚¬400 (including ski passes) plus food money that wasn’t much different than we would have spent at home. And that was for a much larger space with a kitchen as well as separate living and sleeping area.

It was a bit of an experiment, this farmhouse accommodation, as they are very popular all over Austria. If this worked out it would be a great and relatively inexpensive option for our family vacations throughout the year.

We drove into the town of Wagrain on Wednesday afternoon, which is an absolutely adorable village with the proud claim that Joseph Mohr, the writer of Stille Nacht, was perish pastor there during the early 1800’s. On arriving at the farmhouse we were greeted by the owner who showed us to our room with this view from the balcony:

The Austrians have a phrase for this kind of snow-covered wonderland: “kitschy-beautiful.” I think it is fitting for this almost over-the-top scene.

All in all we had an absolutely wonderful time. We decided to ski only two days so that we could visit a wellness pool driving back to Innsbruck. We put Annie into half-day ski camps, which she loved. Markus stayed with me for the first couple of hours on the first day making sure I didn’t kill myself with my pathetic ski skills. But the hill he set me up on was very forgiving and the snow was perfect, so I did my own thing for a bit after lunch while he explore more challenging options. The second day I took it a bit easier while Markus went off on his own for over 3 hours of skiing bliss.

On the second day after skiing, Annie was tearing up the floor with her moves at the apres-ski restaurant. (As my friend Nicole often says to me regarding Annie: “Hillary, you’re screwed.”)

The birthday itself was rather low-key, as suited Markus. We had cake on Thursday for the official birthday and Annie and I made a card.

Blowing out the candles. (Annie as usual, is featuring her no-pants look frequently seen these days.) — Blowing out the candles. (Annie, as usual, is featuring her no-pants look frequently seen these days.)

In terms of the farmhouse aspect, Annie adored feeding the ponies and bunnies as well as sliding down the snowy sidewalk on her plastic disc.

Feeding the rabbits while wearing her ski participation medal, which she didn't take off until...well, she's still wearing it.

It looks like both ski holidays and farmhouse vacations are going to be at the top of our list for the rest of our time in Austria.

Happy 40th Birthday Markus and here’s to a wonderful year ahead!

January 22, 2010January 22, 2010

Goodbye Uroma

One week ago Markus’ Oma, Rebecca and Annie’s Uroma, passed away. Oma Maria was 93. She raised Markus until he was 14, so he was very, very close to her.

Oma has felt quite done with her life for the past few years. Then her daughter, who was 70, died from cancer last year, and that was just too much. As much as the family will miss her dearly, everyone feels thankful that her wish to die very peacefully at home in her sleep was fulfilled.

I never spoke enough German to really have a deep conversation with her, but Markus’ stories about her indicate that she was a very feisty woman. She had close friendships and people she couldn’t stand and even those she kicked out of the house.

During WWII Maria worked as a waitress to support herself and her family. The city’s airstrike sirens would often be sounded, but usually they were ignored. One afternoon, the owner of the restaurant decided to send his staff down to the cellar upon hearing the all-too-familiar wail. A bomb destroyed the cafe, but Maria and the rest of the staff escaped unharmed. Strange to think that there would be no Markus if that instinct had been ignored.

Rebecca spent quite a bit of time visiting Uroma whenever she was in Austria and is very sad she is gone. Annie remembers and talks about her as well.

Markus’ father, Franz, says sifting through her papers has been interesting. She has the birth and death certificates of both her husbands, as well as the document the Nazi’s required showing 8 generations of Aryan ancestors.

There is no denying that she had a very interesting life and knew many people who loved her and cared about her deeply. We can all only hope for the same.

January 16, 2010

Soon to be Schoop-schooping

Last weekend we took Annie to the slopes. Well, O.K., to a small incline with some snow on it that was near the mountain. We had tried last year, but at 2 1/2 she just wasn’t ready. Fair enough.

Mostly Markus and I wanted her to have a positive experience with skiing, so we put her in a private lesson. It went great. The teacher had children of her own and had obviously done this many times. She came well-equipped with a bad of gummies, tossing one in Annie’s mouth like a seal every time she completed the 2 second descent.

Even though it was a foggy and cold day (so pictures are a bit fuzzy), Annie spent 40 minutes going up and down with the instructor and felt very proud of herself when it was over.

Now if only Mama can get this hang of this skiing thing, it will be a great family outting for years to come.

January 10, 2010January 10, 2010

Jumping over Innsbruck

Every year, just after Christmas, is a ski jumping competition in Innsbruck, part of the Four Hills Tournament that takes place in Germany and Austria. Markus was sorry we missed it last year (all 20,000 tickets were sold out by the time we investigated), so we made sure to get tickets early this year.

The event is at the Bergisel Schanze, just outside of Innsbruck’s city center. So our gang jumped on a street car and joined the hoards hiking up to the viewing area.

The large bowl where the ski jumpers land, and where the crowds view the event, means that there really isn’t a bad spot in the house.

The view from Bergisel is, well,…

stunning. It was a perfect clear day, ideal for viewing.

We were all dressed up in our winter warmest, and Nicole brought a big pitcher of glÃ¼hwein and lots of sandwiches.

Renata, Ryan and Rebecca (don't think I didn't have problems with those names all week!)

Whenever an Austrian was about to jump, the crowd went crazy with cheers and horns and cow bells and flag waving.

It was excellent viewing, but the pictures of the jumpers turned out to be a bit of Where’s Waldo?.

Can you find the flying man in the trees?

And to top it all off, a Tirolean, Gregor Schlierenzauer,Â won.

He is a 19-year-old phenomenon, who has won several races during the season and is one of the favourites for the Vancouver Olympics.

I thought I would enjoy the day, but instead I completely loved it! It was so much fun. And Annie managed to make it through 4 hours outside and still keep her smile. She was a superstar. We are talking about trying to make all four races next January and becoming official ski jumping groupies. And to think I used to hate winter.

January 2, 2010January 2, 2010

Ryan and Renata Return!

I’m very happy to say that my friends, Ryan and Renata, have returned to Innsbruck from Victoria for another visit. (Actually, I should say Winnipeg, as they came direct from there where they are working on a contract.)

I picked them up in Munich last week and we decided to spend a couple of hours looking at the town. Although we were there only for a short while, we managed to have some glÃ¼hwein, walk though the old town (which was very busy despite all the stores being closed on a Sunday) and have dinner at the famous HofbrÃ¤uhaus beer hall (the epicenter of Oktoberfest and home of the giant beer stein). A nice diversion.

As we were reviewing what we wanted to do, it became apparent that I would have my work as guide cut out for me, as we fit in an awful lot last year: Christmas markets; cross-country skiing; downhill skiing; tobogganing; Salzburg; Sud Tirol, Italy; Trento, Italy; hiking; and lots of walking around and shopping. As it is also fun when I get to experience something different, Markus suggested KitzbÃ¼hl, which I have yet to visit and only know from the photos of stars skiing there in gossip magazines.

We didn’t see any celebriaty, but enjoyed the town nonetheless. I was expecting an over-the-top place, like Aspen, where every other store sells designer labels, $10,000 watches or trendy art. But, as Markus explained, there are just too many ski resorts in this area to not offer at least a range of prices and options. (Although we did spy a gated community which obviously housed those who could afford the very best.) Overall, a very lovely town.

Old church and graveyard near the city center

Ryan and Renata in the ancient part of town — Ryan and Renata in the old part of town

The town is highlighted by the Ache river and of course the surrounding mountains. — KitzbÃ¼hl is highlighted by the Ache river and of course the surrounding mountains.

For lunch Markus suggested we check out a new hotel, called the Grande Tirolia, which cost â‚¬70,000,000 to build. The decor was very trendy, taking inspiration from both its Austrian location and Russian owners, including an entire wall of schnapps bottles, one for each member of the golf club. The Michelin-rated restaurant wasn’t opened for lunch, so we ate in the golf Bistro. Although the design was interesting and relaxing, the food was unfortunately quite bland. But an interesting experience anyway. And the drive around KitzbÃ¼hl to reach the hotel was pretty.

Ryan and Renata in front of the open kitchen.

I really look forward to going back someday to ski!

December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas Everyone

Wishing you a very wonderful Christmas day.

December 18, 2009December 18, 2009

These are a few of my favourite…photos

As those following this blog know, I occasionally go through lapses in posting. Last fall when this was happening, I thought maybe I needed something concrete to motivate me. This thought came about the same time as I was trolling through not-so-recent photos (mostly of Annie) and realizing I’d love to share more of them. So put those two thoughts together, mix it with a little Sound of Music for inspiration, and there you have my new category.

I’ll try to post once a week.Â There may or may not be much of a story to go with the picture(s), but at least I’ll get a post out of it, and you get to see some darn cute images.

So to begin, it was cold today. Not like Winnipeg cold, but still below -5. (I know, I know, but I’ve never claimed to be anything other than a weather wimp.) This had me looking for bright sunny photos, and thought that this from Annie’s second birthday was lovely.

It was taken by Grandpa Ken, who is a professional photographer. He has always taken the most stunning pictures of Rebecca, and he seems to be holding true to form with Annie.

Here are a couple more closeups from, WOW!, almost a year and a half ago. (It seems both recent and so far away, as so much has happened since then. Time is the great trickster.) She still puts that dress on after school some days, and now it is a real fashion mini.

What I love is how her personality is so strong in these photos, and really hasn’t changed that much since then; happy, mischievous, curious, independent. My girl.